Frontal ventricular dimensions of the brain in infants and children.

Four hundred computerized tomographic scans of the brain in infants and children from birth to 15 years of age were reviewed. Of these, 142 were judged to exhibit normal ventricular dimensions as determined by the biventricular (V/H) index, the length of a line drawn between the heads of the caudate nuclei (V) relative to the width of the cerebral hemispheres (H) at the same level. When all scans were analyzed collectively, the V/H index followed a Gaussian distribution (mean, .11 +/- .03) [SD]; range, .00 to .20). The index did not increase with advancing age within the pediatric population (0 to 15 years), as it does in adults.